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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25941559">Session B</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/8_excuses_are_necessary/pseuds/Queen_of_Wands'>Queen_of_Wands (8_excuses_are_necessary)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>FortuneBound [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>FriendSim - Fandom, Hiveswap, Homestuck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Major Original Characters - Freeform, More tags to follow, Non-Canon Characters Only, Original Characters - Freeform, Queen of Wands - Freeform, SBURB, Timeline Shenanigans, You (The Reader) - Freeform, no canon characters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:26:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,418</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25941559</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/8_excuses_are_necessary/pseuds/Queen_of_Wands</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You've already begun this journey, so there's nowhere to go, but forward.  The story continues whether you are here to see it or not.  The disasters will continue.  The good times will continue.  All of it will continue continuing, whether you read or not.  Witness them or not, this ill be the game that they play with fate.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Character/Original Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>FortuneBound [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558648</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>You sit quietly in your chair, absorbing everything that you saw during the first session. If you didn't see it, I would suggest going back before you continue the journey. After all, what can you learn from the middle of the story if you haven't read the first part? Assuming that if you're still reading this, then I will continue on with your story and let you think about the strange place that you have put yourself in.</p>
<p>The crystal room that you've been trapped in for so many minutes is suddenly feeling claustrophobic, even though it's one of the most open places you've been. Last time you looked around the room, there was no door to open again.</p>
<p>But the door is again and you can feel the relief in every limb of your body. But then you sense something else has changed. You look around the room once more, but you can't see anything else that is going to change. You pat yourself down, feeling the fabric along your legs and arms, looking for something that might have changed. And then you hear it as you pat the pockets. A crinkle. You reach into the pocket and pull out a piece of paper that you hadn't seen before.</p>
<p>You wonder at it for a moment, considering the ways that it might change things to look at it. You know that the Queen of Wands is watching your actions, but this message could be as simple as a hidden message that someone wanted to leave behind for you. It could be something as complicated as a description of the whole series of events that brought you here.</p>
<p>But there's no point in wondering anymore. You open the paper and look at it carefully. The handwriting that looks back at you is soft, well-done. And it only has one sentence for you to read.</p>
<p class="cyan">To you who watched, know that this wasn't the first.</p>
<p>You fold the paper back up and tuck it back into your pocket as you ponder the meaning of it. But there's only so much that you're going to be able to do right here and now. Instead of staying in the room, you decide to head out into the castle again. You go to push the door open and you pause for a second with your hand against the wood of the door. You don't know where you are to begin with. It's impossible to tell which way will take you where you need to go next. You take a deep breath and clear your mind.</p>
<p>It doesn't matter if you know where you're going. You're here for a reason and the Queen of Wands is going to make sure that you find your way to the next room that you need to be in. As if on queue, the door pulls open and you stumble. The Queen glides into this room and takes up her spot in the room in front of the TV. She pauses and looks at you. There's something about the way that she looks. Her skirts are long and full today. But it's her face that really gets your attention.</p>
<p>There are layers upon layers of makeup on her face. The colors around her eyes are crinkled and cracked. It's hard to think of her as something perfect and beautiful. You look at her for a second and open your mouth, but there are other words that demand the air more than yours.</p>
<p>"I understand that you've just been through quite the ordeal, but I want to make one thing very clear to you. Not everything that these players say or do is the absolute truth. It is up to you to figure out what the truth truly is. There's another session that you will need to see. But it's far from this place."</p>
<p>And with that, she's gone. It only takes a blink of your eye for her to be gone. You're frozen to your spot for a second and then you look at the door again. You put your hand on the wood and then you push the door open. The space beyond is empty and quiet and you find yourself a little bit more anxious than before. Even though there's nothing else going on, you're afraid that someone is going to jump out at you and make you think that something terrible is going to happen.</p>
<p>But you step forward, slowly at first and then with a newfound certainty. Regardless of what the Queen of Wands says, regardless of what the player wrote to you, regardless of it all, you are here to find something out and you hope that you can truly find something interesting that will point you towards the future that you've been trying to figure out. Your feet slowly start to lead the way. Instinct drags you along the hallways, showing you the way to something new. You realize that you've probably been here before and that you probably walked these halls before. The reason why you're so certain of where you're going is because you know that there's a place that you can get to somewhere out there in this castle. You've seen a hundred hallways here and all of them have to go somewhere.</p>
<p>But as you walk, you realize that the tiles are getting worse and worse. They're starting to look worn and you can feel some of them wobbling under your feet. You're about to pause and go back when your next step creates a hole in the ground and you're sent flying down. You look up as you fall and see the ground that wasn't supported. These tiles were going to break with the slightest of waits and it just happens that you were the first thing to touch them. You look down now and see that you're falling through the hole in another structure. You fly through the hole and before you know what's happened, you're sitting on the ground in the hallway up against the wall and away from the hole in the ground. When you lean forward and look through it, you see the hole on the other side, the one that you fell through. You aren't sure why it made you fall like that, but you don't question it. You don't spend your time thinking about what it means for you. No, you stand up and press yourself against the wall to start moving away from the hole and the unstable ground. When your hands touch the wall, you feel mold and mildew, moss, and plantlife living and dying under your fingertips. You take a moment to get used to it and accept that it's there and then you move away from the hole.</p>
<p>When the ground looks more stable, you take a moment to really look at this place that you've wound up in. Unlike the pristine place that you came from, this place looks like it's been overrun and started crumbling. But it's also still a mirror of the castle that you were just in. Everything about it, under the layers of grime and disgusting mold and moss and more, is a castle that you should recognize. You follow along the paths again, your feet taking you along a path that you halfway recognize. It's one of the only pathways that you can follow in this place without finding your foot descending into a patch of wet moss. You hate that more than anything else. And then you see it in front of you through the windows in the castle. You see a room, a crystal place that looks like the previous room that you were in. You're certain that it's focused on another universe, but you have some questions about why there are two mirrored castles like this and why they're on top of each other.</p>
<p>But the Queen of Wands has never proven trustworthy when it comes to answering your questions about things like this. You don't think that she's really ever answered a question that you really needed an answer to. She has assumed that this whole situation will explain itself to you one of these days. The observatory is a slightly different color. You can't put your finger on how the colors have changed, but you can feel it in the light that's reflected in the room. The chair in front of the three screens looks the same as the one before, you think. But at the same time, it looks a little more comfortable than before. You know what's expected of you, so you walk forward and sit down. You wait for something to happen after you hear the hum of energy pouring into the screens, but you don't see any changes to the screens. There's something more ominous about that than if you had seen the screen light up right away.</p>
<p>But then you hear the sound of machinery whirring to life and you see a message flash across the screen.</p>
<p class="black">CORRUPTED/DAMAGED DATA: PROGRAM CANNOT EXECUTE</p>
<p>The green words on the black screen flash for a moment. You look around, and then at the door, looking to see if the Queen of Wands is on the way. She's not at the door when you look at it, but then you look at the screens again and she's there. She's not looking at you but instead focused on the screen. She has a holographic keypad up in front of her and is typing away at it.</p>
<p>"Looks like the missing data will mainly impact what it shows you. Compared to the vast swath of data, the missing portions aren't that big. I believe that this should be good enough to get the larger picture across to you. We just need to hit the override to make sure that it works."</p>
<p>The Queen of Wands isn't looking at you, the screens, or her hands as she types away at the virtual keyboard. Instead, her eyes seemed to be facing upwards, towards the universe above them that they're trying to tune into. And after a moment, the screen goes blank again. The queen gestures with one hand and her keyboard is gone. She turns around in her dress and starts walking to the door. It's the most painfully human you have ever seen her do. And you can hear the sound of her shoes on the tile of the room. And then she opens the door and leaves through it, the door shutting on its own as she leaves.</p>
<p>You look away from the door. The Queen of Wands was acting differently, avoiding you. She had looked you in the eyes after the last thing that you had seen, but this time, there was something else. There was something that she was hiding, you realize. Even if she was all-powerful, there was something that she didn't want you to know was in this place.</p>
<p>But the screen flashes and you focus on it.</p>
<p class="black">PROGRAM EXECUTING...</p>
<p class="black">MISSING DATA WILL BE EXCLUDED...</p>
<p class="black">PROGRAM WILL DISPLAY WHERE GAPS EXIST...</p>
<p class="black">EXECUTION SUCCESS-</p>
<p>And before it can get the last word out, you're looking at the feed of a chat client. There are no people, on any of the screens.</p>
<p>There's just the beginning of a message, where all your actors appear in their various shades of text.</p>
<p class="black">--- A memo has been started. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="martin">nocturnalForger</span> [<span class="martin">NF</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="amira">grimRobber</span> [<span class="amira">GR</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="terry">exasperantKinsmen</span> [<span class="terry">EK</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="tobias">lonelyProgrammer</span> [<span class="tobias">LP</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="allen">tentacleNotation</span> [<span class="allen">TN</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="laila">restlessOdyssey</span> [<span class="laila">RO</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="rusty">fractalLuminary</span> [<span class="rusty">FL</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="yasin">textbookRenegade</span> [<span class="yasin">TR</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="jenna">fortuitousWaterfall</span> [<span class="jenna">FW</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="alexi">darkDerivative</span> [<span class="alexi">DD</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="shane">bonsaiSpectacle</span> [<span class="shane">BS</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="daisy">goldenDoppleganger</span> [<span class="daisy">GD</span>] has been added to a memo. ---</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I know that we said that we weren't going to open these memos again unless there was something very important that we needed to do, but this is one of those things that I would consider that important.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: And that is a game that the 12 of us can play all together that isn't a dumb MMO that requires too much effort and time. This one sounds like it could be a little bit more laid back and I think it could be really fun over the upcoming break that most of us are going to have.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: What the fuck are you doing? I told you that I thought this was dumb, so why keep going.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I know what you think, but I'm not asking because I want to go around you. I want to play a game with everyone finally and I think that this game is going to be that.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: You're being a true idiot, I hope you know.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: You little shit.</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: Hey.</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: Calm down.</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: I know that the two of you don't always agree on what we should be doing as a group, but that doesn't mean that I want to see your most recent fight as a public spectacle.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: Why play a game together? It's not like we all get along well enough to actually enjoy a game that will take all of us cooperating to do good in.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Fuck yeah, I want to play a new game with people. Forget the haters, give us the game.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="martin">nocturalForger</span> [<span class="martin">NF</span>] is starting a poll. ---</p>
<p class="black">-- A. Tell us about the game. --</p>
<p class="black">-- B. Shut up and go home. --</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="cyan">[ A - 10 ]</span> [ B - 1 ] ---</p>
<p class="martin">NF: So, now that we're all in agreement that this game is going to be fun, I promise that it's gonna be good. It's not just one genre. From the look of it, it's got a little bit of everything. House design, combat, mystery, horror, adventure, cooking, RPG elements, it's literally got it all.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: So you mean you're going to yeet us into a hot mess of a game because it doesn't know what genre it needs to be?</p>
<p class="martin">NF: Jesus FUCKING christ.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: Just let me talk about the game for more than a message without interruption.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: What about art and art-related stuff?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: I want to paint in it, maybe do one of those 3D VR paintings.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: It has a ton of stuff, so I wouldn't be surprised if it had art and stuff. It's supposed to be pretty adaptive too, learning from us and what we want to do, so it can build out things that we don't already have to create the things we do need in order to make the game we want.</p>
<p class="tobias">LP: How far does the world generation go. It's truly got everything, then the game should generate infinitely.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I don't think i read anything about the world generation, but I'm sure that it's going to do cool stuff.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I know that the twelve of us haven't always been the best of friends, so I think this might be a good opportunity for the twelve of us to actually do something together and make our group less of a group with cliques and more of a real friend group that's happy to chat back and forth and actually knows each other.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: If you guys are interested, then say aye so I can tally up how many of you are ACTUALLY going to play.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: Aye</p>
<p class="terry">EK: Aye</p>
<p class="tobias">LP: Aye</p>
<p class="allen">TN: Aye</p>
<p class="laila">RO: Aye</p>
<p class="rusty">FL: Aye</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: Aye</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: Aye</p>
<p class="shane">BS: Aye</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Aye</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Fucking christ, fine.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Aye</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: (But also you can all fuck right off for not being more concerned about this weird-ass game)</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I guess we're going to have some fun.</p>
<p>The messages fade out and you're left looking at the messy bedroom of one very frustrated looking teenager. He's lanky with dark hair that's been treated to lie flat against his head. His arms are crossed as he looks at his computer. He only uncrosses them for a moment to close the laptop. And as he recrosses his arms, the computer pings quietly at him.</p>
<p>Just as he reaches to maybe open the laptop again, the screen pauses, struggling to load something. After a moment, the message pops up. <span class="yasin">YASIN</span>, <span class="black">THIEF OF HOPE</span>. This is who you're looking at right now. You raise an eyebrow as you watch him. He's a spoiled child throwing a tantrum in the middle of his room. He's tossed the laptop away and he's thrown things off his bed like that's going to change anything. You watch as he goes and then he eventually sits back down and sinks into the chair that he has in his room.</p>
<p class="yasin">YASIN: I said that that game wasn't going to be good for us. It's dumb. It's not going to work the way that he wants it to. It doesn't matter if can support the 12 of us on different computers. There are MMOs that could do the same. And yet this is the game that he wants to try and force onto us.</p>
<p>He clutches his brown hair in his hands and then he leans down so his elbows are on his knees.</p>
<p class="yasin">YASIN: This is stupid.</p>
<p>He sits still for a moment like that, looking almost like he's not going to sit up and deal with the world for real, but he eventually stands up, goes to his desk and starts writing things in a notebook. You can only assume that it's for school when he pulls out textbooks to reference as he's writing things down. You can't see his face from here, but his posture is forced, stretched, and pulled taunt in a way that you don't like the look of. It looks like he's going to fall apart at any given moment.</p>
<p>This game is truly bothering him and you're not sure what to do with that knowledge. The fact that they aren't really thinking about the fact that this game might be terrible is a red flag for him. He knows that this is going to be a disaster, but there's no way to get them to understand that there might be risks that none of them had considered. He's already stretched to the limit of trying to get them to express any feeling at all.</p>
<p>But then he relaxes and slips into a focused state as he works. He doesn't care if you're here, he hasn't from the beginning, but that's because he doesn't know you're there. He's just focused on getting through the moment and then moving on to a new day.</p>
<p class="black">---</p>
<p>The screen switches to the room of a different young man. And the difference between the two of them is astounding and instant. He's sitting in his chair, more confident than the previous young man, but his room is an absolute disaster. It's more than just stuff all over the place like you initially thought. Instead, there are things that look like they're decaying in parts of the room. But it doesn't look like this fact has really much effect on the way that he feels about the room. He is admiring the conversation that's rolling down his screen instead of paying attention to anything else. This is <span class="martin">MARTIN</span>, the <span class="black">KNIGHT OF DOOM</span>. Outside of the mess that is his room, there doesn't appear to be a lot that he has any sort of care for. But in his room, there's one thing that really strikes you as odd. There are weapons on the walls and even an ax embedded in the headboard of his bed. You wonder for a second if it's gotten there on purpose or on accident. Regardless, he seems happy to be where he is. The memo that you saw earlier is open on his computer screen. He's not evening typing on it, but instead just watching their conversation roll by. The computer struggles for a moment like it's going to show you that conversation, but then it does a little skip and he's opening another tab on his computer.</p>
<p>That conversation is open only for a moment and then it disappears. And you watch as a person is removed from the friendlist on the side of the screen. You couldn't read it either, but you know that they've got to be a little important if they were worth deleting. He closes the tab and returns to the memo. Once he's there, he starts typing, interjecting himself in whatever they were doing.</p>
<p>NF: So, I know that the break coming up for us is going to overlap just a little bit. I know that not all of us are in the same area, so it's hard to predict our breaks, but there's got to be like two solid weeks that we can all start playing this game together.</p>
<p>NF: I'm going to go ahead and upload stuff so that you guys can download it and have it at the ready, but you shouldn't open the files until you're ready to start playing and are through reading all the stuff in the manual. I'm thinking that we should all start at roughly the same time.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="martin">nocturnalForger</span> [<span class="martin">NF</span>] has uploaded 2 files to the memo board. ---</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I can't wait to have a game to play with everyone again!</p>
<p>And then he logs off of the chat client and opens up his copy of the rules again. On the same screen, he has another file open next to it. The rules are obvious, digital, and brightly colored. But the thing on the other side of the screen is rough and looks like scanned pages of a physical notebook. The handwritten pages are more foreboding. There's so much text on even just one of those pages. It looks like it could take over if you're not careful. There are notes in other colors on the handwritten pages, afterthoughts of a forgetful author. Unfortunately, you're too far away to see more than the basics of those pages. And as you strain your eyes to see more, you realize that whatever this is, it's a secret that Martin is keeping from the rest of his friends. You wonder if it's a good idea or a bad one. It's impossible to tell at the moment.</p>
<p>A ping sounds into the room and Martin looks at his phone.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="daisy">goldenDoppleganger</span> [<span class="daisy">] has begun a conversation with <span class="martin">nocturnalForger</span> [<span class="martin">NF</span>] ---</span></p>
<p class="daisy">GD: So this game that we're going to be playing.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Is there something that you're not telling us about it?</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Because I have a feeling about this. And everything that I've seen so far in the rules already seems so vague.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I don't have anything extra. I have the exact same stuff that you guys do. I found a forum post about the game with the digital download.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I mean the only thing extra that I have is the knowledge that like no one touched this game when it came out a couple years ago. Even though it sold, no one actually played it. People are getting interested in figuring out what the fuck the game is about now though.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I can send you a link to the forum if you want. I know that you like knowing things for yourself.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: I'll believe you for the moment.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: I just think that it's a little weird that you would want to throw us into this game like this if you don't know any more than the basics.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: So I'll ask one more time.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Are you hiding something from us?</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I don't know anything more. I've seen the stuff that's public, but nothing more than that.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Mmk...</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="daisy">goldenDoppleganger</span> [<span class="daisy">GD</span>] has ended a conversation with <span class="martin">nocturnalForger</span> [<span class="martin">NF</span>] ---</p>
<p>Martin tilts his head as he looks at the conversation. He feels a little more than lost and confused with that conversation. He was sure that someone was going to ask questions. But this wasn't who he expected was going to be asking more questions. It makes a sort of sense. GD has always been more interested in knowing things than the rest.</p>
<p>Martin turns his attention to the handwritten notes. Whatever they are, you are certain that they belong to the game. And you are certain that they tell him more about what's going to happen to them all.</p>
<p>And before you can think harder, you're whisked away to another screen. The screens flash through glimpses of the rest of the group, technicolor and chaotic. When it settles, you're looking at a young woman, sitting alone in a bedroom that is overrun with cats.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The young woman in the room filled with cats goes by the name <span class="alexi">ALEXI</span>. She is the <span class="black">ROGUE OF VOID</span> for this session. She sits in the room, rubbing her chin. It's impossible to tell at the moment if she's considering the room full of cats or something that's on her screen. But then you look closer at the group of cats that are near the laptop and you realize that there's something much more dramatic happening there.</p>
<p>Two of the cats aren't touching the keyboard, but the other one has its paws pressed into several of the keys on the board. The letters are starting to fill up the screen with a string so long that it just keeps going and going and going.</p>
<p class="alexi">ALEXI: I made a mistake, didn't I?</p>
<p class="laila">?????: You certainly did.</p>
<p>The other voice in the room isn't one that you recognize, not yet at least. You assume that it's a member of the friend group since Alexi has her phone open to the chat client.</p>
<p class="alexi">ALEXI: But how was I supposed to just let the shelter shut down with nowhere for the cats to go? Was I supposed to just let them be shipped off to other shelters where they would probably be put down?</p>
<p class="laila">?????: I admire your choice, but you could have probably figured out a way to help them that didn't involve you putting all of them in your house. And then you wouldn't be sending me random strings of texts that are like thousands upon thousands of characters long.</p>
<p class="alexi">ALEXI: At least I got them a document of their own so that they could express themselves there. They really like standing on the keyboard.</p>
<p class="laila">?????: It might be cute, but that really isn't a solution for your current predicament. How many cats are in your house? And then how many are laying in your room?</p>
<p class="alexi">ALEXI: The answer is the same no matter how you ask it. There are 15. They are all in my room. I have left the door open and put good food elsewhere. But they are just sitting in my room. And I can't be mad at them!</p>
<p class="laila">??????: You are going to die from the cats laying on you in the middle of the night.</p>
<p class="alexi">ALEXI: It is very possible that that will happen.</p>
<p class="alexi">ALEXI: But let's talk about better things. Do you think that game that Martin brought up is going to be a good idea for our group?</p>
<p class="laila">?????: I don't really know. It's not my job to know things. I'm just the one that jumps into action all the time. So I'll tell you what I think about it and you can just space out where you are thinking about it.</p>
<p>Alexi smiles at that and stares off into space as the person on the other end rambles and rambles and rambles. You see something on the side of the screen though, something that Alexi doesn't seem to notice at all. Maybe it's not that she doesn't know that it's there, but that it has become a mundane part of her life. The thing in question sits on the windowsill. It sparkles and glitters and looks like it's part of something bigger than her. It looks like it's full of magic. She is just smiling about the things that she's hearing, but you spend your time considering the item on the windowsill. You think that it's familiar, like something that you have seen before. But it's not something that you can really have recalled witnessing before. You think that even if Alexi doesn't recognize the potential power in the thing, she realizes that it's behaving differently than it was before.</p>
<p>Alexi stands up while listening and picks up the thing, holding it up to the sky. It's a stone, glittering and shining. She puts it down in a drawer and then closes it tightly.</p>
<p>You're far from that room now, in a different bedroom in a different house. The girl in this room is talking out loud into a phone that is on the table in front of her.</p>
<p><span class="laila">LAILA</span>, the <span class="black">WITCH OF TIME</span>, is having a fun time on the call with Alexi. You hear the same conversation that you heard before, but now you're able to see the other side of the call. Laila is a master of rambling. There are tons of topics that she can cover, whether it's something boring that she found the other day or something much more interesting that she discovered while she was out in the world. Laila holds back laughter every time Alexi talks like she can almost see the chaos that a room full of cats is causing for the other person.</p>
<p>But eventually, even with all of the laughter, all of the smiles, Laila is the one that ends the call. Alexi has been sounding like she's fading for at least an hour when the conversation ends. Laila gets up and stretches her arms above her head. You wonder how long the two of them were sitting there and chatting about their day. You don't think that it was that long, but the stretch still looks like a nice one. Outside the window that Laila is standing in front of, you can see a beautiful neighborhood with an ominous storm hanging out on the horizon out there.</p>
<p>The far off rumble of thunder comes into the room, but Laila doesn't move. Instead, she just stares a little bit harder at the storm. When she gets bored with the storm, she walks past her parents in the kitchen. Laila walks out into the street, walking towards the storm clouds. Her parents don't respond to the door closing or yell after her, even with the door to the outside slams closed behind her.</p>
<p>The summer heat is something that Laila enjoys. She doesn't care that it makes her skin sweaty and gross. She's outside and that's all that matters. Being inside for extended periods would just wear on her, she knows. There have been many family conversations about how they should be dealing with everything that's happening outside and what Laila should be doing to keep herself sane during the summer months. They had forbidden her from disappearing off into the world on her computer, but as long as she was doing one walk a day, they didn't seem to care what else she did.</p>
<p>The summer was wearing on her. There were no people her age in the neighborhood for some reason and while her parents were fun to talk to, she often felt like she was just there for the sake of being there. That wasn't the kind of thing that she wanted in her life. So instead of wallowing in despair over the fact that she would be stuck inside of her house with her parents for an entire summer, she was going to go out and do what she could. Even if there was a storm coming, even if she really did love her parents, she just needed something else. So she found it.</p>
<p>And she pauses in front of the park to look at the lake there, to examine what the lake has in it. But you don't get to pause with her for too long. Instead, you're swiftly off again, looking at another young woman that's sitting in her room. This room is full of books, stacked impossibly high in some places, but still organized in some way as you look at them. There are stacks that are organized by the size of the book, some are organized in color groups. There are of course piles that don't seem to match anything that you've seen so far, but you can't really assume that there isn't any organization there. </p>
<p>The young woman to whom this room belongs is sitting on the floor of her room with a couple select tomes next to her. She has a notebook in her hand and print outs of pages laying on the floor. She's reading some pages from a book that is on her leg, then double-checking the information with the things that she's reading on the print outs on the floor.</p>
<p>She's obviously not reading that closely nor is she taking the most intense notes. Her computer, sitting on a chair next to her, up off the ground is making noise as she works. And she looks up after every word to see who is sending her messages. And now, after moments of watching her, the display tells you that this is <span class="daisy">DAISY</span>, the <span class="black">PRINCE OF LIGHT</span>. She looks at the screen and then sighs. She finally sets everything down and then she pulls the computer off of the chair and puts it in her lap to reply to the messages that are filling up the page.</p>
<p>She decides on one conversation to reply to.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="yasin">textbookRenegade</span> [<span class="yasin">TR</span>] has started a conversation with <span class="daisy">goldenDoppleganger</span> [<span class="daisy">DG</span>] ---</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Please answer my messages.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Come on! I have been so patient, but I need some sort of information. You're the only one that's good at that.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: And even if you don't know, you're the only one I trust to help me figure it out.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Daisy, please.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: I've been working so hard to not mess with you lately and I don't want you to think that this has all just been about messing with you.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: I wasn't ignoring you. Calm down.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: I was working on things that are not on my computer.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Unlike many people in our friend group, I don't spend all of my time at the computer, typing away and hoping that people read my messages instantly.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Besides, I rarely care about the things that you're talking about.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: I know, but please, this one is important and I promise that you're going to actually be interested in this one.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: So?</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: What's so important that you've been pestering me for hours while I've been working?</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: I want to see if you have information on the game that Martin gave us and wants to play with us. You have the files already downloaded with the code open, right? He's probably even asked you about the game before he started talking to the rest of us about it?</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Sorry to disappoint, but I learned about the game at the same time as the rest of the group. You must have been the first person that he showed the game to. You've always been picky about the games that we play and I think he was trying to prep you or see if you were even interested in the game.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: If he didn't come to you for information, then can you do some checking into this game and see if it's dangerous? Please?????</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: I don't have a good feeling about this and I want to make sure that I'm not the only one that's feeling it. Everyone is agreeing way too easily when it comes to this game.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: I don't see why you think that this might be dangerous. It's just a game.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Then go ask questions and see if this is really just a game that we're going to playing.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: I don't know if I can care that much about the situation.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Please?</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Just ask some more questions. Just like 3 more. Just do it for me. Please, I have such a bad feeling.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: ...</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: I'll ask around some of my sources and see if this game isn't what we think it is.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Does that work?</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Thank you. I'm sure you'll be able to find more than either Martin or I found.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Thank you, thank you, thank you.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="yasin">textbookRenegade</span> [<span class="yasin">TR</span>] has ended a conversation with <span class="daisy">goldenDoppleganger</span> [<span class="daisy">GD</span>] ---</p>
<p>And as Daisy stood up and stretched, preparing herself to sit down and work on her research again, she hears another ping on the computer. Turning around to see what extra detail Yasin has added to his request, she finds that it's not him that's trying to bother her.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="allen">tentacleNotation</span> [<span class="allen">TN</span>] has begun a conversation with <span class="daisy">goldenDoppleganger</span> [<span class="daisy">GD</span>] ---</p>
<p class="allen">TN: Have you been bothered by TR today?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: He came to me asking about my thoughts on the game stuff.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Yeah, I just got done with a conversation with him.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: He wants me to look further into the game and see if it's a danger or just the fun game that Martin wants it to be.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: Are you going to do it?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: I know that you like research, but I think that this is absolutely ridiculous.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: It is most definitely ridiculous, but at the same time, I don't know if there's anything else that's going to come up in the research that we're going to find. This game wasn't played before. I could figure that out within minutes of starting to look it up on the forums.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: So really there's not a lot to research when no one else has firsthand experience. Even the few people that are talking about it now aren't talking about it like it's something that's going to come up soon. They're talking about playing it in months.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: There's always hands-on experience to help you figure out whether or not the game is going to be a good fit, right?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: That would be a reasonable and smart thing to do at this point, right?</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: I suppose It is basically the only other option out there, really.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: But it is pretty much not what TR wants me to do.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: He wanted to know if it was safe in advance of playing it. Playing it to figure out safety doesn't seem like the right way to go.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: What he doesn't know won't hurt him. And you don't have to look far for someone else to play with since you need at least two players to get the game up and off the ground.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: I've already been reading the manual to figure out how you're supposed to play this thing.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: ...</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: You've actually read the manual a bit?</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: This is a plan that you really believe in, isn't it?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: Totally.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Welp. If you're doing something that out of character, I guess the best thing for me to do is follow along. Let's see where this gets us.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: I'm very ready to play.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Should we tell anyone else that we're doing this?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: Nah, they'll figure it out when they're going to be worried about what they're going to do. And it'll be an 'oops' kind of situation.</p>
<p>The camera pulls away from just one side of this conversation and splits. You have access to an image of both rooms now. Daisy is on the right hand of the screen, everything as it was before. But the books that she was looking at are on the ground, sprawled out around her and forgotten.</p>
<p>On the other side of the screen is <span class="allen">ALLEN</span>, <span class="black">HEIR OF SPACE</span>, with the messiest room that you've seen so far. There's a lot of art supplies scattered around the room, various mediums are splattered onto the furniture and you can even make out some writing that's crawling up a painted panel in the background. The amount of art is amazing, but not that worrying. No, the part that worries you is that he doesn't seem like someone that should be playing this game. There would be worse players for him to be paired with, but you're still not sure that Light and Space are going to be able to puzzle out what they're meant to do.</p>
<p>But then you watch as Daisy walks him through the manual one more time. She's learning it for the first time and he's getting a second chance to hear all of the rules. He plucks a highlighter up out of a pile of pens and uses it on the printed version of the instructions that he's got in his hands. He must have started printing it as soon as Martin sent the file. But with the way that he organizes the pages across the wall, you get it. He needs to hold it, bend it, mark it to make it make any sense at all.</p>
<p>And after all that work, they load the game up. Daisy is to be the client player and Allen will be the server player. And as the discs spin, they stare at the screens. This is the beginning of something. And you are shown a glimpse of the meteor out in space that is coming Daisy's way. The vision of it glitches out and then you're focused on both of the players' screens.</p>
<p>You witness the running around that they do to get everything put together. Daisy is laser-focused, making space where everything needs to go. And she only asks a couple of times for him to put something here or there to make sure that everything is ready while she's running around doing things. She gets an item, a puzzle in and of itself, and she figures it out just in time. She didn't see the meteor and Allen wasn't paying attention to her local news. But unfortunately, there were other things going on. And other friends that were capable of realizing that things were going a little bit wrong.</p>
<p>But it was Martin that realized that they had something first. The screen shows you him as he sits in his room. He's chewing on his thumb, but he's not looking at the screen, nor is he sending messages out to any of his friends. He watches them talk about the meteor. Daisy waves it off in the conversation, but he knows better than that.</p>
<p>And as he flips through the guide, he stops and then stares at the screen a little bit harder. He had missed a line. And he hoped that it was wrong. In this whole guide that he had about this situation, he hoped that this one thing was actually wrong.</p>
<p>Then the ping shows up and he quickly opens up the conversation.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="allen">tentacleNotation</span> [<span class="allen">TN</span>] has started a conversation with <span class="martin">nocturnalForger</span> [<span class="martin">NF</span>] ---</p>
<p class="allen">TN: So I have a tiny little question about the game that you sent us.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: Uh, okay?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: So, if - theoretically - you were playing the game and your friend was in a new world, is that a good thing or a bad thing?</p>
<p>And that makes him take a breath, reconsider the situation that they are in. And then he pieces together how these two fit into the game.</p>
<p class="black">THE LIGHT WILL ENTER FIRST AIDED BY SPACE.</p>
<p>Amidst the paragraphs on the page, he had thought that this didn't mean this. He thought that there was still time. He thought that this list came again later, but when he looked at it, he found that there was a detail that he had skipped over.</p>
<p class="black">AS STATED BEFORE, LIGHT ENTERS FIRST.</p>
<p>He rubs his head with the frustration of the situation on his shoulders.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: You started the game.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: I said theoretically.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: You're playing with Daisy, aren't you?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: I'm not going to tell you who I am or am not playing with.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: Can you just answer the first question maybe please?</p>
<p class="martin">NF: Just tell me the truth. Or the rest of us are going to be in more danger.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: Uhhh...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The screen still lingers on Martin. He's looking panicked just because of the conversation that you were witnessing. He knew that none of his friends were going to listen to his request that they be cautious and not do something before he said it was okay. But he thought that it was going to be a while off. The only saving grace was that it was this pair. They at least were less likely to spontaneously explode from whatever they had just caused than other pairs that could have been thrown together.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: Allen, seriously.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: Listen, she wanted to do research to make sure that everything was going to be safe. Suffice it to say that both of us are thinking that this game isn't that safe to begin with. But on the other hand, there hasn't been any death so far, so that's a good point in the other column.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: She wanted to research the game?</p>
<p class="martin">NF: Did Yasin set her up to this?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: Well, yes and no.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: What the fuck do you mean?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: It means that he asked her to research whether or not the game was going to be safe for everyone. And then I came along and asked her if she wanted to play the game with me since there really wasn't another way to do any extra research on it. Being in the game was the next logical step.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: Right???</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I mean it makes sense.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: But this was still an incredibly stupid move and I guess that's how it's the two of you and now anyone else.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: Just</p>
<p class="martin">NF: Follow the guide? I guess? For now?</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I'll post an update on the memo in a minute that will have more advice on what you need to do.</p>
<p>Martin rubs his forehead, thinking about how he wants this to go. He hadn't wanted to share this detailed guide with them. It took away the illusion that they were making the choices in this place and changing the world around them. But it is the best way to ensure that they win after all. And that's the one thing that he wants most of all. If they win this, then that's something that can't be pinned on him. That's something that's off of his shoulders.</p>
<p>So instead of waiting on it and thinking about it and agonizing over it for hours, he just starts typing into the memo.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: Hi everyone...</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I know that there are still some opinions floating around in our group about the game and that not everyone is on board with playing it all and this thing that I wanted to do. To make it clear, I did get this game off of a forum and it does look sketch as hell. But I've also spoken to the person that posted it. They told me more about the game and what we would need to do to actually get through it. And it wasn't even just "here's the shortcut through the game.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: No, I got a guide of sorts. Now that sounds sketchy too. But they made it themselves. And it's hard enough to explain, so I'm just going to upload it here. You can be angry at me for keeping it to myself, but when you look at it, you'll understand.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="martin">nocturnalForger</span> [<span class="martin">NF</span>] has uploaded a file for all members of the memo. ---</p>
<p>And after uploading the file, he closes his laptop. He rubs his face and then presses his forehead to the desk with his eyes closed. He knew that this was going to happen. He knew that things were going to get messy and rough for the group and that his part in all of it wasn't going to just be the person pulling all of the strings. There are going to be questions after this. They'll have a million of them after seeing what that file says about all of them.</p>
<p>But the ending is the important part and if they follow the guide, they'll be able to get through to that end. That ending where they live and get to make a new place to live. He's spent so long thinking about this game and now that it's a real moment, he's not sure how to handle the way that his friends are going to try and tear apart all of the things that he shares with him. Would they be interested in playing this game without the announcements? Would they care about his opinion? Do they even care now?</p>
<p>He takes a deep breath and sits up. He doesn't open his computer immediately but gathers himself. He knows that he does things that don't always make sense to them. And he knows that they probably don't care about this new news. Even if they do care, he can handle whatever they decide to throw at him.</p>
<p>He opens the computer, facing just a couple of messages and none of them are the angry messages that he expected.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: So the game was planned out in advance or something? And that means we have a guide to completely beating the game?</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Jesus Christ, if you had something like that, you should have said something sooner. that makes a world of difference and it means that we're not going to be dead on arrival. Jesus christ.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: If you had shared this, to begin with, I would have given you such less shit for this whole thing.</p>
<p class="laila">RO: We're up next, doom boy. I'll send you a DM.</p>
<p>Whether everyone else was busy or didn't care is impossible to tell. Instead of lingering on him, we have to another room, another young woman.</p>
<p>Specifically, she is <span class="laila">LAILA</span>, our <span class="black">WITCH OF TIME</span>.</p>
<p>Her room is bright and colorful. Everything about the room matches the attitude of the young woman with her bright smile and almost twinkling eyes. But there's something about the difference between her attitude and the way that she's dressed and lounging in her chair like she might be the villain in a show. Her outfit is dark and her stance is wild on the chair with her legs swung over the arm and her back placed against the other arm of the chair.</p>
<p>Her phone is pinging with messages, but the speakers in the room are blasting music and she has her laptop open on her lap with cat videos playing. There's a blinking tab at the bottom of the screen but she has done a great job of ignoring the sounds of the messages there. But eventually, she opens one of the conversations that she started herself and starts typing from her lounging position.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="laila">restlessOdyssey</span> [<span class="laila">RO</span>] has started a conversation with <span class="martin">nocturnalForger</span> [<span class="martin">NF</span>] ---</p>
<p class="laila">RO: So we should probably hop on getting into the game, right? I'm supposed to be the person that directs your game, so you'll be the next one to head into that cool dangerous place.</p>
<p class="laila">RO: Are you ready to start that today or do you need the afternoon to prepare yourself?</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I'm ready when you are, I think. I'm just...it's not going to be easy, even if we have all of the steps written out for us. I'm just worried that we're not going to be able to get through it.</p>
<p class="laila">RO: You just have to put your faith in me and the guide and all the friends that are going to be behind you the entire time. I know that it'll still be hard, but you thought we could do it.</p>
<p class="laila">RO: So have a lot more faith in yourself over the situation.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: I just- I thought that the twelve of us would be able to do this without making it into a game that we just follow instructions blindly.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: There were even mentions in the guide that we could do this without seeing the guide.</p>
<p class="laila">RO: We've never known for being straight forward. But I think that all of us can get through this. Will it be straight forward? No. But we will still do it. I still think that we're going to end up 'ignoring' the instructions sometimes and doing what feels right. But that might be the right call at that point.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: You're already doing it that way. I didn't see the fact that they could start the game that early when I had read through everything. I thought they would take more time. But there are sentences, hints, things that you have to look carefully for that show how things will start, how they will be.</p>
<p class="laila">RO: Regardless, it's our time to shine. So let's get started. Maybe once you see the game, it'll help cool some of that dread about it.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: Maybe. Here we go.</p>
<p>Loading up the game made his anxiety skyrocket. It wasn't until they had gotten him through the beginning that he calmed down at all. And eventually, he was as into it as he was into other parts of his life. Everything that they got him through, the chaotic mess of it was unprecedented, but Laila was cool and collected as she guided him through the game. She knew how to help and would send messages to get him to pause and think. And even when she didn't answer his messages, she was the one making sure that he was getting through it all okay.</p>
<p>In fact, sometimes her timing was unnerving. there were times that he would have the thought that he needed something and the thing would fall into his view before he had even had a chance to send her a message about it.</p>
<p>But when he started to question it, he realized that that was something she had always done. Messages sent during the worst parts of his life, reminders of brighter days and brighter things. He didn't hate that that was a power she had. In fact, it made him feel more comfortable with the chaotic dance that they were playing in this place.</p>
<p>And when they finally found the item that could move him forward, he was the calmest that he had ever been when it came to something like this. He held that item in his hands, fragile and beautiful in his palm. High above, the meteor was aimed right for him. He could see what was coming and there were fires in the distance, a reminder of the destruction that they were causing around them. This was the end of the world. And that meteor before? That had been Daisy. There were 10 more meteors, each that were going to offer more and more damage to this world.</p>
<p>They had set in motion the end of days, but he had known that before he had suggested it. He wondered how many of them had read that far ahead. And then he crushes the items in his hand, black syrupy liquid dripping down to the ground, pooling on the floor, a pool of darkness and blinking eyes.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The previous scene with Martin as he finishes getting moved from the earth saved from the meteor that had come straight for him. You're left staring at another new room, another new face. This time it's a young man that you're looking at. <span class="rusty">RUSTY</span> sits alone on his bed, staring off into space. His position as the <span class="black">SYLPH OF MIND</span> makes you pause for a moment, makes you reconsider what you thought this game was going to be and who could play what part. Arbitrary lines of male and female had been drawn in the line before, but you're realizing that it maybe didn't matter as much as you thought it did before. The reality of the situation is that the lines weren't really there.</p>
<p>Rusty gets up and stretches, shaking out whatever thoughts were clouding his mind as he stares into space, then he moves to sit down at his computer. He opens a website that you think may be his own based on the way that he opens up the backend of the website. He starts typing replies to the comments that are on all of the things that he's posted before. He types for a second, then he pauses. And then with a speed and accuracy that leaves you dumbfounded, he starts typing even faster.</p>
<p>And then he pauses, hitting enter and then moving onto the next message. You never see him press the backspace button. It's like within seconds of seeing the comment, he has these paragraphs of information just ready for them.</p>
<p>You think that it might be an hour that you spend watching him do this, but then he pauses, sits back. You tense, just a little bit, wondering what he might be doing next, what he will decide to do with himself next. It's a very specific show that you seem to be watching. But then he opens up another window, the chat client that he and his friends use. And he starts typing here, but he doesn't type like he has all of the answers when he starts. He pauses, backspaces, and more during these messages, like a normal person. Whatever powers he has doesn't seem to extend over his conversations.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="rusty">fractalLuminary</span> [<span class="rusty">FL</span>] has started a conversation with <span class="amira">grimRobber</span> [<span class="amira">GR</span>] ---</p>
<p class="rusty">FL: Hi there.</p>
<p class="rusty">FL: It looks like we're next on the list. I've heard from Laila that she's already managed to get Martin off into that weird place that all of us will eventually need to go to.</p>
<p class="rusty">FL: And according to this guide, we're the ones that are next. If we want to follow the guide like everyone else seems to want to right now. Or at least no one has voiced objections with it.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: You're acting so serious about this. Do you think that we should be following the guide?</p>
<p class="rusty">FL: It's pretty straight forward and makes quite a lot of sense. I can't think of another reason why we shouldn't follow a guide like this. It has a lot of good information in it that should serve to keep us safe.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: That's awfully optimistic for you. It's actually almost worse to hear something like that. Are you sure that you're okay?</p>
<p class="amira">GR: It's not like this is normal behavior for you. So please let me know if there's something that's bothering you.</p>
<p class="rusty">FL: I feel quite fine. I'm rather excited, I would say. That's why I sent the first message. I want to see just how thought out this guide is and see if the choices that I see are the same that it predicted.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: Well I guess that means that we should get ready to jump in. Let's do this thing.</p>
<p>And so they started. And the positive mood that Rusty starts with sticks around. You see the other person, <span class="amira">AMIRA</span>, the <span class="black">PAGE OF RAGE</span> is the player that's getting sent into the Medium next. Her trip through the tutorial is quick and painless. The choices that Rusty makes are always just right. He makes sure that she's put in the right place with the right tools to ensure that she'll have no problems getting into the Medium. She doesn't have to make any of her own choices while she has him on her side. He makes the choices for her, but she never argues with them. He knows best and he knows her.</p>
<p>Rusty is careful with his choices. He knows that Amira isn't the same person that he is. She wants different things out of this game and that's fine for her to want. Will she get all of the things that she wants? That's yet to be seen, but he knows the way to put together this game so that she's the least likely to end up with a result that she hates. And he does so without telling her that that's what he's doing.</p>
<p>She notices of course. And she plays the part that she has to in this, but she's still uncertain about so much and not certain of the way that she should exist in this place. Martin and Daisy have shared with people about what they've found on the other side. He knows that all of this is for a purpose. He knows that one wrong step will send her to a bad place. He doesn't want that at all. She doesn't really care about what's going on. She knows that she might get the chance to do something that she considers kick ass, but she also knows that there will be a price associated with getting there. She doesn't care about the challenge though. She doesn't care about much. She's just about getting in there and finding a way to do what she wants. She wants to do something that makes her happy.</p>
<p>After all, even though the others are there, they don't offer her much in the way of support and morale-boosting. There's an apathy against her that she reflects back in how she feels about the things that they've thrown her into. This isn't the first time, nor will it be the last. But the situation itself isn't the cause of her problems. It's deeper than that and one day she will figure it out for herself.</p>
<p>They assure her that this is all okay. The situation that they're in isn't the end of the world. The situation that they're in is in fact the beginning of something much more. And when she holds the last piece of their puzzle, she squeezes it tightly to herself, willing it to mean everything to her. And it breaks in her hands, sending her far away. And even on the other side, she doesn't feel good, but she feels something.</p>
<p class="black">---</p>
<p>But there's no time to get too attached to the girl. You're off again and this time to another room. This room belongs to <span class="terry">TERRY</span>, <span class="black">MAID OF BLOOD</span>, but she's not in the room. You can see the traces of things that lead you to who she is. The room is spotless, clean, and unblemished like she doesn't even spend time in it. It looks exactly like you would expect a minimalist room would look. But then you're even more surprised when you realize that while you've been looking incredibly carefully at the room and not noticed that she's in the room.</p>
<p>She's thin, blending into the pale room behind her. But she is there. She has a presence as she walks through the room now. In her hand is a bowl of fruit that you guess she's retrieved from the kitchen. It's the most cluttered thing that you can see. But even as she eats them, she organizes them. She makes them into a pattern and then it's empty as she eats them as she works. She spends her time typing at the computer, working on something that you can't exactly see. She minimizes a window of a word document.</p>
<p>For a moment, you can see a cluttered desktop, but then it's immediately hidden by a chat window that she opens. And she starts typing there.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="yasin">textbookRenegade</span> [<span class="yasin">TR</span>] has started a conversation with <span class="terry">exasperantKinsmen</span> [<span class="terry">EK</span>] ---</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: So I guess we're up next. Are you ready to get into this game or are you worried about the situation that you're going to be in?</p>
<p class="terry">EK: I'm fine with pretty much everything that's going on. I'm not going to break out and upset the group, especially since it looks like I was going to be involved one way or another.</p>
<p class="terry">EK: Besides already being listed as involved, I don't have a lot of strong feelings about what's going on.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: You're worried about upsetting the group?</p>
<p class="terry">EK: I mean you're the only person from this group that has talked directly to me in the last couple of weeks. Most of them forget that I'm there.</p>
<p class="terry">EK: But because I was listed as involved and I've heard that things will go very, very wrong if I'm not involved, I'm going to do what I can. I'm not going to mess with that.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: I know that our group isn't always the best as expressing itself, but we do care about you, Terry. You've just been quiet and some of the others aren't sure if you want to be talked to.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: If you want to be talked to more often, I'll definitely make sure that people are aware. The group isn't always the most forthcoming about their emotions but we do care at the end of the day.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: If all else fails, just join in on the memes in the memos. That's pretty much the best place to get involved with us and be a part of the team. No one's going to say no to another person making jokes there. No one hates you, that's for sure at least.</p>
<p class="terry">EK: I don't really want to participate. I have very little to say to you guys on the whole.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Well.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Let's start here.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: How are you doing today, Terry? Anything interesting going on with you lately?</p>
<p class="terry">EK: This just feels patronizing. You're just starting a conversation because you think that I might back out of all of this and that the rest of you will be fucked over without the twelfth player that you need me to be.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: No...</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Look.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: I spend a lot of time talking to myself and not caring about what other people say. And sometimes that leaks over to the part of life where I interact with people. So yes, I don't talk to you often and that's 100% on me. But it doesn't mean that I hate you or think that you should be shunned from the group.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Everyone I know has asked if you've had a conversation with someone. And to a lot us, it feels like you're the one putting yourself on the outside.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: So this game and this conversation? Let's not make it about "not upsetting the group" or "doing what I think will keep you here," shall we?</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Let's consider this the first of many conversations that we have in the future about the life that you want to live and what you think of things like this cat.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="yasin">textbookRenegade</span> [<span class="yasin">] has uploaded a photo to the conversation. ---</span></p>
<p class="terry">EK: That is a very cute cat. Is it yours?</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: No, but I wish it was!</p>
<p>Terry sat at her computer and for a brief moment, you see a smile on her face. It's gone as quickly as it was there. But that brief moment, that means everything. That's a moment that everything is okay for her. But after she's done smiling, she's back to another random person on the internet, not someone that they can fight or hate or another. And for a couple moments after that, she looks like a normal teenager talking to a friend on the computer.</p>
<p>But then the screen shifts and you're shown Yasin again. he's smiling, relaxed. But then he sighs to himself.</p>
<p class="yasin">YASIN: I hate feeling like I have to play this part to get things going.</p>
<p>He rubs his hands on his face, eventually pressing his hands against his eyes. He didn't look excited to be having this conversation. But then he took a breath and looked up at his computer, paying attention to another chat window that pops up from someone else in the group.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="black">--- <span class="yasin">textbookRenegade</span> [<span class="yasin">TR</span>] has continued a conversation with <span class="amira">grimRobber</span> [<span class="amira">GR</span>] ---</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: UGH.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: I hate that I have to work with Terry.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: She's spending so much time whining while we're talking. I get that she's not really had anyone to vent to because she hasn't ever really been part of the group.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: But there is a point that anyone can reach where they are spending too much time complaining.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: Can you really blame her for whining about this? She probably didn't want to be that involved.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: She's already relatively not involved in our lives.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: So what's the point of getting involved now with something like this? Wouldn't you feel uncomfortable too?</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Not really?</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: A situation where I can show off my skills? I'm always down for that. I know what my future holds and it's not about to be hidden because I think it might be a hassle.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: Okay, so bad comparison.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: You aren't like the rest of us. And most of us even that talk a lot in the group are worried about the situation.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: So give her a little bit of time and understand.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: Maybe you can even give her a little bit of kindness with your words. Just because she doesn't talk a lot doesn't mean that she doesn't have feelings. That girl has seen some shit.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: I know that the only reason that she's stuck around is because there aren't a lot of people in her normal life that are interested in keeping her around either. She's been part of group after group. No one has cared about her and they just kind of let her go without warning.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: And I know this because she admitted it to me when I asked why she wasn't talking once. That girl's got some hangups, but if you hurt her, I will make sure that are hurt worse.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: That's a lot of words and feelings for someone who usually doesn't have any feelings about a given situation. Are you doing okay over there?</p>
<p class="amira">GR: Fuck you, Yasin.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: I've been her before. Even in this group, you guys treat me like a nobody at times. You come to me only to bitch about other people.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: Others just don't talk to me. Does that sound healthy to you?</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: No...</p>
<p class="amira">GR: Then I want you to fuck off for a while and not talk to me.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="amira">grimRobber</span> [<span class="amira">GR</span>] has ended a conversation with <span class="yasin">textbookRenegade</span> [<span class="yasin">TR</span>] ---</p>
<p>And then you can see both of them sitting in their respective rooms. They're sitting in two very different scenes, but the two teens are the same kind of sullen image. Yasin didn't think that Amira was going to call him out like that. And then he remembers the kind of stress that she's been going through over the last day. She's in the middle of this game too, he remembers. She's in a foreign place, far away from them, trying to make sense of a world that by all accounts shouldn't make sense. It changes people to be out there. He closes the window, her face disappearing from view. And then opens the conversation to Terry again.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: We should really get you into the game soon, Terry.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: I know that you've seen some of the messages that people have passed back and forth, but there's something worrying about the way that this is going. The whole situation is fucked if you don't get into the game.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: So when I'm over here trying to hurry you up or push you to go somewhere, don't think that this is just about getting you into the game so that this is over. This about making sure that you don't die.</p>
<p class="terry">EK: Yeah that really makes me feel better about participating in this whole thing. Nope, doesn't make me feel more uncomfortable at all. Definitely just fine over here.</p>
<p class="terry">EK: So what kind of things are you thinking that we're going to have to do in this game?</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Well the files say that I'm going to get you into the game first, which will move your whole house there. But then after that, it looks like a whole bunch of mini-quests that you'll have to go on. I'm not sure if they'll be different for me or different for you, but there are going to be a lot of things to do once we're in there.</p>
<p class="terry">EK: Well then, I guess we better get started so that I can get to my list of things.</p>
<p>The two of them do get started. And it surprises Yasin more than it should have to see how quick Terry is with this kind of stuff. She's quick to figure out the pieces that need to go together, even if she hasn't done a lot of reading of the manual before this. For a moment, guilt bites at him. He's feeling the things in his head that had been lurking just under the surface of what he's done. He knows that she's not been stubborn and that there are good reasons for why she is the way that she is. But that doesn't fix the urge that he has to hit her.</p>
<p>It's the moment when both of them see the meteor looming in the sky that the urge to do petty things melts away. This is no longer about dealing with people that they don't care for. This is about making sure that a person that can do something is removed from a dangerous situation. And when it reaches that point, the two of them focus on the work that they're doing. And they take it seriously.</p>
<p>And then in a flash, she's pulled from that world to the other dark place, the Medium, where all she has is her home to remind her of home.</p>
<p>The crater that the meteor created in the world isn't limited to just her house, but he doesn't tell her about that. He doesn't admit to her that it killed her neighbors. But she doesn't ask. She doesn't ask because she already knows that she's a kind of alone out there.</p>
<p class="black">---</p>
<p>But that's all you are allowed to see of that moment. You're whisked away as suddenly as you arrived. The new places that you arrive are sitting side by side on your screen. There are some very obvious differences between the next duo that are going to be entering the game (you guess based on the way that things have gone so far).</p>
<p>The room on the right is messy and full of maps and books. What you can read of the spines of the books are locations and trails and things. It's all about traveling and going to some interesting places. You also see piles of other hobbies around the room. Each pile has a couple of books on it, research material to get into the hobby, and then another and then another. But the room on the left is calming to look at. There's a lot of plants that are around the room. There's a sense of balance in that room. The colors are cool. The blinds are closed.</p>
<p>But there's nothing else going on in those screens. After a moment of what feels like a pause, the screens cut and a warning message flashes across the screen.</p>
<p class="black">PROGRAM RELOADING. RECALCULATING TO COMPENSATE FOR MISSING DATA.</p>
<p>And then it reloads, showing you the rooms again. But there are differences. Some of the stacks in the messy room are switched around, some of the items in the calm room are different colors. But the names of the people who belong in each room finally show up. The room on the left belongs to <span class="tobias">TOBIAS</span>, the <span class="black">MAGE OF BREATH</span>. And the one on the left belongs to <span class="jenna">JENNA</span>, the <span class="black">SEER OF HEART</span>.</p>
<p>Tobias, as soon as he's sitting down and looking at his computer screen, is already not focused on what he's supposed to be doing. He's opening new tabs, looking at some cool pictures. His mind has wandered away to other places and other things than what he's supposed to be doing. And even as the messages pile up and he hears ping after ping after ping, he doesn't answer. And while she sits in her room, working on the tasks that she needs to be ready for him. But once she's done all that she can, she moves onto other things, asks other people questions about what they're going to be doing. Eventually, Tobias turns back to his messages and replies to hers first, thank god.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="jenna">fortuitousWaterfall</span> [<span class="jenna">FW</span>] has started a conversation with <span class="tobias">lonelyProgrammer</span> [<span class="tobias">LP</span>] ---</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: When you are prepared, it's time for us to get you into this game. I've heard the meteors have been coming faster and faster, so we should probably start as quickly as possible.</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: Tobias????</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: Hello???</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: I know that you are prone to getting distracted by things on your computer, but this is a serious time crunch operation. Once we get started, we have to move quickly.</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: ...</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: Please let me know as soon as you have seen these messages so that I can help you get started. I already have all of the steps for the beginning written down, so all you have to do is listen to what I say and go quickly.</p>
<p class="tobias">LP: Sorry I got distracted by some new info about the game that came out last year. I'm ready to get going though. I don't think there's anything else that I can do at this point.</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: Wonderful, let's get into it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Instead of showing you how they get into the game, the video cuts away. It moves onto another scene with people that you already know. Alexi and Allen were already mid-conversation by the time you arrived.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="alexi">darkDerivative</span> [<span class="alexi">DD</span>] has continued a conversation with <span class="allen">tentacleNotation</span> [<span class="allen">TN</span>] ---</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: Are you ready?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: For what??? I don't think that there's anything going on that I need to be ready for, right?</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: Uh.</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: Allen, you're next up to be added to the game.</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: Please tell me you didn't forget that much about the game, right?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: I was supposed to pay attention to more of it? Jesus, I thought I could be done with it after all of Daisy's stuff. I don't want to have to try and follow anything too complicated here.</p>
<p class="allen">TN: But I'm next and I already know a lot of how this will look, so at least it'll be easy.</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: So are you ready? Or do you need a moment to get in contact with Daisy and make sure that she's okay?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: Haha</p>
<p class="allen">TN: She doesn't need me. She's been fine since she got to the Medium. I haven't been able to do anything, but give her a couple pieces of machines that she needed to keep going. But she won't need me after this I don't think.</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: And so the only reason that you stopped reading the guide was because it was too complicated?</p>
<p class="allen">TN: I mean I also just didn't give a fuck what was going on. As long as I got Daisy where she needed to be. After that, what happened to me wasn't as important.</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: &gt;:(</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: It's important where you wind up too. So let's get you into the game now.</p>
<p class="black">---</p>
<p>And then you're whisked away again, somewhere else. The screen is split in front of you and you recognize Laila's room immediately on the left side of the screen, but the right side lets you know that there's a new player involved. His name is <span class="shane">SHANE</span> and he's the <span class="black">BARD OF LIFE</span>. But his room lives up to his title. It's so full of life that you can't really see the walls underneath the layers of vines and plants. Planters line the floor. You wonder if there is a floor under all of it or if the room is just dirt at this point. But Shane looks content amongst all of the chaos that exists around him.</p>
<p>And his smile only gets wider when he hears the tone from his computer, letting him know that he has a message. He was sitting amongst all of the plants and he stands up and makes his way through all of the paths that are covering his floor. He sits down at his laptop and opens it.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="laila">restlessOdyssey</span> [<span class="laila">RO</span>] has started a conversation with <span class="shane">bonsaiSpectacle</span> [<span class="shane">BS</span>] ---</p>
<p class="laila">RO: It's my turn, right?</p>
<p class="shane">BS: Yep! I'm going to get you into the game and make sure that you make it safe and sound. Nothing nasty is going to grab you or hit you or get rid of you.</p>
<p class="laila">RO: I can give you advice if you want it. I already got someone into the game and I've been talking to most of the other players that are in now.</p>
<p class="shane">BS: I don't think that I'll need help, but if I get confused, I'll ask you first about it.</p>
<p class="laila">RO: You seem kind of excited about this.</p>
<p class="laila">RO: I didn't think that this kind of game was going to be that interesting to you of all people.</p>
<p class="shane">BS: Oh! I've been really interested since Martin talked to us about it. I'm always looking for new games to play and this one really seems like it's going to change our group.</p>
<p class="shane">BS: Besides, there's only so many hours per day that I can tend to the plants. So I need things to do when I can't take care of them. And maybe I'll get to play with some plants in the game too.</p>
<p class="shane">BS: But I digress, I think the changes that will come with this game for our group will be good. But for now, let's just get going on the right path and see what happens next.</p>
<p class="laila">RO: So what you're saying is that you think that our group might need this game to really...be a group?</p>
<p class="shane">BS: I guess. And that's just what I think. I know that everyone else will have different opinions about it.</p>
<p class="shane">BS: And that's just what I'm seeing too. I know that there are others in the group who can really see things that are going to happen in the future. They might be able to better tell us if this is all going to be for the better. And maybe that guide that we have tells us all we need to know about the future that we are walking into.</p>
<p class="shane">BS: But for now, let's just focus on getting you into the game. If you're ready, I'll start my files and get you in.</p>
<p class="laila">RO: Sounds good. And I hope that you're right about this being good. I don't want to go through with this if this is going to wind up being something bad for all of us.</p>
<p class="shane">BS: Me too.</p>
<p>While you find yourself wanting to watch this pair (or at least listen to them talk about how this game is going to have an impact on the people that they're playing with), the screen flickers, turning off. It takes another moment and then it loads up another set. The glitches don't seem to be taking too much of the thing, but you're wondering if the glitches that you're seeing are really due to the fact that things were broken before or if there's something else that's interacting with the screens that might be causing more problems than helping you.</p>
<p class="black">---</p>
<p>Instead, you're forced to look at Daisy and Rusty. The two of them are talking before Laila has made her way into the game, you realize. They're already looking forward and there's only one reason why they would be doing something like that. There's a meteor out there that they can already see.</p>
<p>It's looming on the horizon, large and intimidating. It doesn't look like it's pointed directly at Rusty, but he'as aware that this one could hit and demolish his home with the shockwave alone. There's no saving him from this one if they're wrong about it.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="daisy">goldenDoppleganger</span> [<span class="daisy">GD</span>] has started a conversation with <span class="rusty">fractalLuminary</span> [<span class="rusty">FL</span>] ---</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: We're not going to be able to do this in a way that I would describe as elegant, but I don't think either of us can really say that that's a major concern right now.</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: So let's get this started in just the way that we need to do. Are you ready?</p>
<p class="rusty">FL: More than ready.</p>
<p class="rusty">FL: I've been thinking about it since we got Amira into the game. I've wanted to play this and test the limits of what it can do. I think that our guide was some faults and I want to see if I can figure out what the hell is happening before anything else. Even if I can't figure it out, I think it might be a fun exercise to try out, don't you think?</p>
<p class="daisy">GD: Well I can't tell you that I think it's a good or a bad idea. I think there are more pressing matters that we need to focus on. So let's get you in the game and figure out if there's anything that we can do to save you.</p>
<p>And they were off. You watch Rusy make a fool of himself in some regards, but then you realize that he's not doing this to make a fool of himself. He is testing the limits of the game, seeing what it will and won't let him do once he's part of the main game. And although you've only seen him a handful of times, you don't think that he's ever been happier than he is right then and there.</p>
<p class="black">---</p>
<p>And then you're off again, taken to a pair of rooms that you didn't expect to see together. You can't say that you're surprised that fate decided to play with them like this, but the two young men staring at their computers are definitely making you laugh. If there's humor for them in this, they're not laughing, but you can't help the laughter as they both cross their arms and stare at the screen.</p>
<p>They both spend a couple minutes not typing, but Yasin is the one that breaks the silence first.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="yasin">textbookRenegade</span> [<span class="yasin">TR</span>] has started a conversation with <span class="martin">nocturnalForger</span> [<span class="martin">NF</span>] ---</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: So I guess the world thinks that this is funny, huh?</p>
<p class="martin">NF: It certainly appears so since I'm in charge of making sure that you don't die.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Is it still safe over there? I know that Daisy has told me about the violence that she's witnessed, but she doesn't think that it feels real to her. She's not even in participating in it, even though she is physically there.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: It's like playing a game, but there is no controller. It's better than VR, but still fake somehow. It always feels so fake. I don't know how to really describe it. Maybe you'll have better words for it when you're in the game and able to witness it as well.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: Have you been close to dying while playing this?</p>
<p class="martin">NF: Only the one time and that was really more of an error on my part. It had nothing to do with the game and just the way that I was treating it.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: It feels fake, but this is real and you have to treat it like it's real. Or it will take you out.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: I still can't believe that you kept that second document secret from us. You could have just told us about it from the beginning instead of trying to control us from behind the scenes.</p>
<p class="martin">NF: It's a little too late for this, Yasin. And we don't have a ton of time to get you into the game. If you're serious about playing, then I need you to stop acting like a spoiled child and focus on what you're doing. I'm loading the game.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: I guess I can get into the spirit of things for you.</p>
<p class="yasin">TR: But I'm not going to put up with you treating me like I'm some sort of idiot. So don't be an idiot yourself.</p>
<p>And you watch as the two work together. You're more than a little surprised about the way that they talk to each other. In fact, you're incredibly surprised by the way that they deal with each other. Maybe it's something to do with how they've been friends for so long. Maybe it's not that. Maybe it's just the will of the universe.</p>
<p>But they work together perfectly. Like they were built for this fate.</p>
<p class="black">---</p>
<p>But there is no time for all of these questions that you might have about why this session is moving the way that it is. There are things that you've got to do out there and you need to focus on that future fate. And that means paying attention as the game shows you Amira. She's sitting so quietly at her computer, bleeding just enough to be an actual worry for you. You didn't think that you would see someone like this, not so casually, not this early.</p>
<p>But she sits there at her computer, bloodied. She looks down at her hands and starts typing. Her fingerprints are red-brown smudges across the keyboard.</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="amira">grimRobber</span> [<span class="amira">GR</span>] has started a conversation with <span class="jenna">fortuitousWaterfall</span> [<span class="jenna">FW</span>] ---</p>
<p class="amira">GR: I</p>
<p class="amira">GR: I</p>
<p class="amira">GR: Hold on</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: Please take your time Amira.</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: I know that everything on your side has been a little worse than rough and I've heard that the fighting for you has gotten worse and worse. So please take your time.</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: Keep yourself safe and then speak.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: It's not that though. We need to get you into the game now. I've seen the meteor that's heading towards your area. I've already dealt with the problems on my end so that I can focus entirely on your situation and make sure that you're going to be safe and sound here.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: So don't worry about me. I'm fine. It was just...it was a lot.</p>
<p class="jenna">FW: I completely understand. Now let's start this game so that I can get out of your hair sooner rather than later.</p>
<p class="amira">GR: Right.</p>
<p>Amira focused on her computer, but in her hand was an unlit stick of dynamite and as she's trying to direct Jenna around on the screen, she pauses and looks out the window of her room. There's a growl out there, something feral and unknown. And then she's away from her computer and the dynamite is lit as she throws it out the window. After a moment, something sounds and the growling stops. She pauses and looks outside and then she goes back to her computer and makes sure that everything is going as smoothly as possible.</p>
<p>But the game doesn't let you linger any longer. And you're gone once more.</p>
<p class="black">---</p>
<p class="black">--- <span class="alexi">darkDerivative</span> [<span class="alexi">DD</span>] has started a conversation with <span class="terry">exasperantKinsmen</span> [<span class="terry">EK</span>] ---</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: Please tell me that you're ready to go through with all of this and that we're not about to argue about anything here and now about what we should be doing</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: Please please please please please please please please please please please please</p>
<p class="alexi">DD: I don't think I'll make it if we have to wait much longer. There's something coming for me. I think it's going to hit my house and kill me.</p>
<p class="terry">EK: Everything is downloading. We'll be ready to go soon and I'll be fast. I don't want you to get hurt.</p>
<p class="terry">EK: I don't want you to die.</p>
<p>They don't say more on your screen, but this time you get to watch them in triple time as they speed through everything.</p>
<p>They stumble through some parts of the game and then do other parts with the fastest precision that you've seen. And then as she crushes something in her hand while standing on a balcony, you're no longer looking at the earth. There's a world around her, bright and brilliant.</p>
<p>And then it's gone just as quickly as you saw it. There are still more players that need to be in this game before it will let you revel in what their worlds like. As much as you want to see the places in the Medium, there's still so much more heartbreak that you need to see first. Their world hasn't been destroyed and you're not sure if they're going to realize that what they're doing isn't going to give them everything that they want.</p>
<p>There's a time and a place for everything and you have yet to find it for this session.</p>
<p class="black">---</p>
<p>The last pair is an odd duo. Breath taking Life into the game. You reflect on it for a brief moment before you focus on what's happening right in front of you right now.</p>
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